Hotels, restaurants and other travel-related companies could show promising growth in 2012.

A slowdown in India’s economy in the second half of 2011 caused many companies to lower their growth targets and slow down their hiring plans. Since the uncertainty about India and the global economy still persists, companies will continue to be cost conscious when drawing up their recruitment plans for 2012.

“Most of them are not planning to hire aggressively,” says V. Suresh, executive vice president and head of sales at jobs site Naukri.com. In particular, recruiters would be very selective while hiring mid- and senior-level employees.

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“Companies are promoting the people they have, instead of hiring from outside,” says Mr. Suresh.

Companies are asking themselves: “How should we get the job done with the minimum resource pool?” says Sangeeta Lala, senior vice president of sourcing at recruitment firm TeamLease Services Pvt.

The hiring mood for 2012 varies from sector to sector, with some industries more upbeat than others. Here’s a look at the hiring plans of some key sectors:

Information Technology and IT-enabled Services: This year hiring in the information technology and outsourcing industry “could be either [the] same as 2011 or even more than 2011,” says Namr Kishore, head of sales and marketing at Manpower Services India Pvt., a unit of global consulting firm ManpowerGroup. He says many of these companies are focusing on India’s domestic demand for IT-services, such as from the government, which could lead to new jobs.

However, most of the hiring will be on a need-basis. In some cases, companies may take on temporary staff for specific projects. This contrasts with past practices, when technology companies typically hired lots of staff for their “bench” in anticipation of future projects.

Recruiters say this year new opportunities could also open up in Internet start-ups, mobile applications, and in cloud computing businesses.

Financial Services and Banking: Last year was a tough one for the financial services sector, particularly for companies in the brokerage, money management and insurance businesses. A poor stock market and new regulations dampened the profits of these companies, leading to layoffs in some cases.

This continues to be a “sensitive sector” in 2012, says Uday Sodhi, chief executive officer at HeadHonchos.com, a job search site for senior-level executives. Hiring is at a standstill, and if global markets get worse there could be more layoffs.

Banks could prove an exception, as they continue to expand. “Public sector banks are planning to enter into new geographies and are expected to a hire significantly this year,” says Mr. Suresh of Naukri.

Healthcare: This has been one of the more resilient sectors in India, and that will likely continue in 2012.

More hospitals and diagnostic centers are expected to open up this year, says Aditya Narayan Mishra, president of the staffing business at recruitment firm Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd. They will need nurses, laboratory technicians and hospital administrators, among other staffers.

“These expansions are likely to be in smaller cities where it’s easy to set up hospitals,” says Ms. Lala of TeamLease.

In addition, medical tourism will likely continue to grow as more foreigners come to India for treatment, says Mr. Mishra. This will further boost demand for professionals in this segment.

Consumer goods: Companies that manufacture basic consumer goods – like soap or toothpaste – as well as consumer electronics – like televisions –have been relatively less hurt by the recent downturn, and that will continue in the first half of 2012, say experts.

Some large companies are expanding. For instance, electronics major Panasonic India Pvt. plans to open new branches, according to the company’s head of human resources Prashant Deo Singh. This would result in new jobs, but mostly for sales and front-end staff.

If the sales growth of consumer durables falls in the next few months, the trend could reverse. “People will sense the mood of the market and then hire,” says Mr. Singh.

Mr. Singh says that one trend that will continue in 2012 is of employees moving out of stagnating industries like telecom and into consumer goods and other industries.

Real estate and construction: Companies in this sector expect to hire more people in the first few months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a survey by Manpower. These companies would benefit from any increased investment by the government in infrastructure projects such as highways and dams, says Mr. Kishore of Manpower.

In addition, several private sector companies, such as conglomerate ITC Ltd. and Godrej Group, have lately entered the construction and real estate space. “There will be jobs for workers, engineers, project managers in these firms,” says Ms. Lala. In real estate, there will also be a demand for sales and marketing professionals, she adds.

Hospitality and tourism: Hotels, restaurants and other travel-related companies could show promising growth in 2012, “as people are traveling more and eating out more often,” says Mr. Mishra. India has seen a growth in domestic tourism in recent years.

These companies will be looking for restaurant managers, client relationship managers and human resources managers, say recruiters. Many of these positions will likely come up in smaller cities and pilgrimage towns, as tourists explore newer areas to visit.

Education: This small but growing sector is likely to add jobs in 2012.

“As more educational institutes open up to meet the needs of the growing young population, more trainers and teaching professionals would be hired,” says Mr. Mishra.

Other jobs opportunities would be for career advisors, trainers for vocational courses and branch managers.

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